Lawmakers won’t take extension for an answer

WE GOT THIS: House and Senate transportation leaders continue to say an FAA reauthorization can happen in the few legislative days that remain this month. Pre-conference chats among staff are “going very well,” Transportation Committee ranking member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said Wednesday. But senators are “insisting” that a trucker meal and rest break matter “go to the member level,” he said. Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) noted there are other issues in the mix as well, but he expressed confidence in Congress’ ability to clear a reauthorization. “[Senate Commerce Chairman John] Thune and I are sticking tight to it,” Shuster said. Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that the goal of the pre-conference talks is to “reach an agreement on substance and then determine what’s the best path forward.”

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ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK: Rick Dearborn’s nomination to the Amtrak board of directors squeaked through the Commerce Committee on a party-line vote Wednesday, but Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said he plans to place a hold on Dearborn’s nomination until Amtrak leaders commit to maintaining long-distance service. “Democrats also expressed concerns about Dearborn’s contacts with Russians during his time as a campaign adviser for Donald Trump,” our Tanya Snyder reports.

Smooth sailing: Joel Szabat’s nomination to be assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs at DOT was approved by voice vote, as were Kelvin Droegemeier's nomination to be director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and James Morhard's nomination to be NASA’s deputy administrator.

IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Feel free to send feedback about today’s newsletter, a tip for a story or a suggestion for lyrics to bgurciullo@politico.com or @brigurciullo.

LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, rails, rivers and runways?

TWEET DU JOUR: From the Eno Center for Transportation’s Jeff Davis: “Ten years ago [Wednesday], the federal #Highway Trust Fund went broke for the first time. How did it happen? And, $144 billion in bailouts later, what have we learned?” Jeff’s article.

DRAT, (NOT) FOILED AGAIN: Facing questions from Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), TSA Administrator David Pekoske acknowledged Wednesday there is “no particular plot that’s been foiled” by the Quiet Skies program, though it's supposed to be a “prevention program.” Markey bristled at the thought of federal air marshals monitoring people as they go to the bathroom or head to the taxi line and TSA holding onto people’s data for two years, even after they’ve been taken off the Quiet Skies list.

Car-go beep-beep: Pekoske also said he plans to re-open TSA’s cargo division within six months. “A bill (H.R. 4176 (115)) to do just that passed the House in March, but Pekoske told reporters after the hearing that he doesn’t have to ‘wait for that legislation to pass if I have the authority and the financial flexibility,’ which he said he does,” Tanya reports.

HURRY UP: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Wednesday urged lawmakers to grant DHS the power to intercept drones “before it’s too late.” “I will continue to sound this alarm because we desperately need Congress to act,” she said at a George Washington University event. “Outdated laws prevent us from setting up the sophisticated defenses we need to protect big events, federal facilities and other potential targets from an airborne menace. DHS does not have the clear legal authority to identify, track or take down dangerous drones. We can’t even test our defensive measures in civilian environments.”

BUMPY RIDE? CDC employees on Wednesday checked out passengers who had taken an Emirates Airline flight from Dubai to John F. Kennedy International Airport after as many as 100 individuals on board appeared to be sick, Pro Health Care’s Dan Goldberg reports. The plane was carrying 521 passengers. Eric Phillips, a spokesman for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that 10 people went to the hospital and the symptoms were “pointing to the flu.”

VERY CLOSE: Sen. Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, is tied with Florida Gov. Rick Scott in Quinnipiac University’s latest poll. “The 49 - 49 percent race shows how Scott has narrowed a 4-point deficit since Quinnipiac last surveyed the race in February, but the results suggest that the three-term Democratic senator has so far weathered a storm of negative ads,” POLITICO Florida’s Marc Caputo writes.

SLICE OF PI: “Texans Against High-Speed Rail was in town last week and met with staffers for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Reps. Randy Weber (R-Texas) and Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), as well as Transportation Department, Federal Railroad Administration and Surface Transportation Board officials,” our friends at POLITICO Influence report.

SHIFTING GEARS: GOP members of the Senate Armed Services Committee picked Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) to take the place of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as chairman. Inhofe is also the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee.

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About The Author : Brianna Gurciullo

Brianna Gurciullo is a transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro. Before joining the transportation team, she was an intern at POLITICO, working with POLITICO Influence, breaking news and POLITICO Magazine.

Brianna previously interned with Hearst, the Center for Responsive Politics and The Chicago Tribune. She was also a 2015 fellow for investigative reporting initiative News21. An alumna of the George Washington University, Brianna served as editor in chief of The GW Hatchet.